Automatic circuit breaker for motion picture apparatus



NOV. 28, w 5 JEWELL AUTOMATIC CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR MOTION PICTUREAPPARATUS Filed May 3, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fifSm n ell Nov. 28, 1933.s JEWELL 1,937,061

AUTOMATIC CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR MOTION PICTURE APPARATUS Filed May 3, 19302 Sheets-Sheet 2 4.6 4 I I g'wue'ntot Q L, maugwzz Patented Nov. 28 1933PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR MOTION PICTURE APPARATUSWilliam S. Jewell, Corry, Pa., assignor to Corry- Erle ManufacturingCompany, a corporation of Pennsylvania,

Application May a, 1930. Serial No. 449,496

2 Claims.

This invention relates to. motion picture apparatus, and moreparticularly to an automatic circuit breaker for such-apparatus,

i The inventionhas'for one of its objects to provide a-pnovel-device. ofthe character stated which shall be adapted to automatically break themotor and lamp circuits of a motion picture apparatus in the event ofthe breakage of the film or in the event of a failure of the film tofeed properly through the apparatus, to the end that the possibility offire and material damage to the film may be reduced to the minimum.

The invention has for a further object to provides. device of thecharacter stated which shall be adapted to be readily mounted upon amotion picture apparatus of any type, which shall be adapted to bereadily connected in the motor and lamp circuits of the apparatus, whichshall be adapted to permit an operative connection therebetween and thefilm to be readily established to maintain in circuit closing positionuntil the film breaks or fails to feed properly through the apparatus,whichshall be adapted to render the apparatus inoperative until suchconnection is established and after such connection is broken, and whichwill not interfere with the feeding of the film through the apparatus.

- The invention has for a further object to provide a. device of thecharacter stated which shall be simple, compact and capable of beingmanufactured at a comparatively lowcost, which shall be rapid andpositive in its circuit breaking action, and which shall be adapted tobe installed without making any changes or alterations in the apparatus.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the natureotwhich willappear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fullydescribedand claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,where- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the circuit breaker with itsoperating toggle in inactive position;

5 Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line22 of Figure 1, with the toggle in activeposition;

Figure 3 is a. sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner in which thecircuit breaker is adapted to be mounted upon a motion picture apparatusand connected in the motor and lamp circuits oirthe apparatus, and

Figure 5 is a similar view illustrating the circuit breaker in aslightly difierent form of motor and lamp circuit.

For the purpose of illustrating its application and operation, thecircuit breaker is shown applied to a motion picture apparatus of thePowers 63 type. This apparatus, which is well known and diagrammaticallyillustrated, embodies an upper magazine 1, a lower magazine 2, a motor 3and a lamp 4. The mechanism for feeding the film 5 from the magazine 1to the magazine 2 and operated by the motor 3, embodies a feed roll 6,and a guide roll '7 located below the feed roll. The film 5 passesrearwardly over the feed roll 6 and forwardly over the guide roll 7, andafter passing over the guide roll is wound upon the reel located in themagazine 2 The motor 3 is connected to a source of current by conductors8 and 9, and the lamp 4 is connected to the source ofcurrent byconductors 10 and 11. An electrically operated switch 12 is connected inthe conductors 9 and 11, and comprises blades 13 which are connected tothe core 14 of a solenoid. One terminal of the coil 15 of the solenoidis connected by a conductor 16 to the conductor 9, and the otherterminal of the coil is connected by a conductor 17 to my improvedcircuit breaker 18, the circuit breaker being in turn connected to theconductor 8 by a conductor 19. The switch 12 is of well knownconstruction, and it is deemed unnecessary to 35 describe it furtherthan to say that it is closed when its solenoid is energized and openedwhen its solenoid is de-energized. It is also deemed unnecessary tofurther describe the film feeding mechanism and other parts of theapparatus.

The circuit breaker 18 controls the solenoid of the switch 12, and itcomprises a lower blade 20 and an upper blade 21 which are fixed to apost 22 extending upwardly from a base 23. The post 22 and base 23 aremade of metal, and the base is adapted to be secured through the mediumof screws 24 upon the motion picture apparatus in a plane locatedbetween and in a plane located rearwardly of the feed roll 6 and guideroll 7. The blades 20 and 21 are insulated from the post 22 by a fibresleeve 25, and they are insulated from each other, the base 23 and ametal washer 26 by fibre washers 27, the washer 26 serving to hold theblades, sleeve and fibre washers in assembled relation on the post andbeing secured in place by a screw 28. The blades 20 and 21 are providedwith angularly related extensions 20 and 21*, respectively. The bladeextension 20 carries a binding post 29 to which the conductor 17 issecured, and the blade extension 21 carries a binding post 30 to whichthe conductor 19 is secured. The blades 20 and 21 are provided at theirfree terminals with opposing contacts 31 and 32, respectively, and theyare resilient and function to normally urge the contacts into engagementwith each other.

The circuit breaker l8 islocated rearwardly of the normal path of thefilm 5 between the feed roll 6 and guide roll '7, and its blades 20 and21 occupy a position at right angles to such path. The base 23 isprovided with an elongated extension 33 which is located at one lateralside of the film path and extends to a point forwardly beyond such path.I

A lever 34 is pivotally secured at one end, as at 35, to the front endof the base extension 33 for movement in a plane at right angles to thefilm path. The lever 34 is adapted to occupy an active and an inactiveposition. When it is in an active position, the lever 34 issubstantially horizontal and its free end rests upon an impact orstriking strip 36 extending longitudinally from the blade 20. The weightof the lever 34 is greater than the resilient power of the blade 20, anddue thereto, the lever holds the blade in a downwardly inclined positionin contact with the strip 36, with the result that the contacts 31 and32 are out of engagement with each other. When in an inactive position,the lever 34 is vertical or nearly so, and the contacts 31 and 32 are inengagement with each other. The lever 34 is adapted to be held ininactive position by the film 5, and to permit this to be done, thelever is provided with a roller 37 which contacts with the front side ofthe film at a point between the feed roll 6 and guide roll 7. The roller3'7 is loosely mounted upon a pin 38 extending at right angles from thelever 34 and located thereon at a point near the upper end thereof. Theroller 37 is provided with terminal flanges 39 which contact with theedges of the film 5 to prevent the latter from moving out of contactwith the former. A lug 40, which is carried by the rear end of the baseextension 33 and is located in a plane above the pivot 35 of the lever34, prevents the lever from being moved into a position forwardly beyondthe vertical, so as to thus insure the movement of the lever into activeposition when it is released by the film 5, the movement of the toggleinto this latter position resulting in the opening of the circuitbreaker 18 and the consequent stopping of the motor 3 and theextinguishing of the lamp 4.

In practice, when the motion picture apparatus is at rest and before thethreading of the film therethrough, the lever 34 is in active or circuitbreaker opening position, with the result that the accidental startingof the motor and the accidental lighting of the lamp cannot occur. Afterthe film has been threaded through the apparatus and attached to thereel of the lower magazine, the lever 34 is raised into inactive orcircuit breaker releasing position, and the roller 3'7 is positioned incontact with the front side of the film and in the loop formed thereinbetween the feed roll 6 and the guide roll 7. The motor may be nowstarted and the lamp lighted. During the operation of the apparatus, thefilm will support the lever 34 in its inactive position until such timeas a break occurs in the film or the film fails to feed properly throughthe apparatus. The breaking of the film releases the lever 34 formovement into active position. The failure of the film to feed properlythrough the apparatus enlarges the loop in which the roller 37 islocated, and when this occurs, the lever 34 is released for movementinto active or circuit breaker opening position.

It should be apparent from the foregoing description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, that the circuit breakerfunctions positively and automatically on the breaking of the film or onits failure to feed properly to effect the stopping of the motor and theextinguishing of the lamp of the apparatus, and that due thereto, thepossibility of fire and of material damage to the film is reduced to theminimum.

While the circuit breaker is shown and described in connection with aparticular make of motion picture apparatus, it is to be understood thatit may be used in connection with any other make of such apparatus. Whenit is used in connection with other makes of apparatus, the electricallyoperated switch may be connected in the motor and lamp circuit of suchother apparatus in the manner illustrated in Figure 5. In this figure,the motor 3 and lamp 4 of the apparatus are connected to a source ofcurrent by conductors 41 and 42, and the electrically operated switch 12is inserted in these conductors. This switch, which is similar to theswitch 12, has the terminals of its coil connected by conductors 43 and44 to the binding posts 29 and 30 of the circuit breaker 18. The currentfor the operation of the solenoid of the switch 12 is applied by astep-down transformer 45'which has its high tension coil 46 connected byconductors 4'7 to theconductors 41 and 42 and which has its low tensioncoil 48 connected to the conductors 43 and 44.

All parts of the circuit breaker, with the exception of the lever 34,are covered by a short circuit-proof and a fire resisting hood 49 whichis made of fibre and is provided with an opening 50 through which theimpact strip 36 extends for engagement by the lever.

While I have described the principle of the invention, together with thestructure which I now consider the preferred embodiment thereof, it isto be understood that the structure shown is merely illustrative andthat such changes may be made, when desired, as fall within the scope ofthe invention as claimed.

I claim:---

1. A circuit breaker comprising a pair of resilient members, means formounting the members in spaced relation to each other and insulatingthem from each other, confronting contacts carried by each member andnormally contacting with each other, an extension carried by one of saidmembers, a rockable member mounted for downward swinging movement in thepath of said extension, stop means for preventing the upward forwardswinging of the rockable member forward of the vertical, and meanscarried by the rockable member and engageable with a vertically movingtaut sheet to hold the rockable member in upright position, saidrockable member upon breaking of the sheet or loosening thereofgravitatingly swinging downward into engagement with said extension tomove the contacts apart.

2. A controlling switch for the motor and lamp circuit of a movingpicture apparatus, ineluding two contact supporting members andconfronting contacts carried thereby, one of said members beingresiliently urged to carry its contact in engagement with the contact ofthe other member, a casing wherein said members are disposed, themembers being insulated from each other and the casing, the casinghaving a slot and the lowermost member having an extension extendingoutward through said slot, an arm operatively pivoted upon said casingfor movement from a vertical position to a lowered, approximatelyhorizontal position, the extension being disposed in the path ofmovement of said arm as it moves to a horizontal position, the arm

